A bone fracture is a condition of a bone in which at least a portion of the bone has cracked, broken, and/or fragmented. Bone fractures can be caused in several different ways, for instance, as a result of a high force impact, stress, or as the result of conditions that presuppose the bones for fracturing, such as osteoporosis, cancer, and the like. Fractures may be closed or compound and they may be simple or multi-fragmentary, e.g., comminuted.
The ease and success of treatment of bone fractures often depends on the type and location of the fracture and the tools available for correcting the crack, break, and/or fragmentation of the bone to be treated. For instance, a closed, simple fracture along a diaphyseal portion of a long bone may be relatively simple to correct and therefore treat. However, a distal fracture of the distal radius, e.g., a Colles' fracture, due to its location and the morphology of the bones involved, may be difficult to correct and treat.
There are several methods for treating bone fractures, all of which typically involve the stabilization of the bone fragments. For instance, the fractured bone pieces may be reduced, e.g., aligned, and restored to their natural position, which position is then maintained using standard immobilization techniques, such as using plaster or fiberglass casts, as well as implanting surgical nails, screws, plates, and wires which function to fix and hold the fractured bone together.
However, the use of casts and typical surgical nails, screws, plates, and wires for the treatment of fractured bones have several drawbacks. For example, casts are problematic in that they are big, bulky and usually only allow a small degree of motion of associated joints. Further, casts often fail to provide adequate internal fixation, thus, resulting in pain, deformity, and/or prolonged disability. Additionally, the use of typical nails, screws, plates, and wires can be problematic because these devices may be hard to apply, are not easily manipulated so as to appropriately reduce and fix the bone in correct alignment, and are not suited for reducing fragments that are displaced from the main loci of the fracture, often requiring additionally plating and/or wiring.
The details of one or more variations of the subject matter described herein are set forth in the description below and the accompanying drawings. Other features and advantages of the subject matter described herein will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.